Pneumatic tire.



No. 819,387. PATBNTBD MAY 1, 1906. C. B.. TWITGHBLL.

PNEUMATIG TIRE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2o. 1905.

Suva/why mouw sv GRAHAM ca. Pnomumoammsns. wnsnwevow n c @ft-WED STATESPATENT ,oyriuclall CHARLES R. TWITCHELL, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA,ASSIGNQR OF ONE-HALF TO JAMES M. BRENNAN, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

PNEUMATIC TIRE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

rammed may 1, i906.

Application filed June 20, 1905. Serial No. 266,152.

To @ZZ whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES R. TWITCH- ELL, of Los Angeles, in thecounty of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Pneumatic Tires; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact descrption of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same. f

Double-tubeppneumatic tires now in general use are of what is known asthe clencher type, each edge of the outer shoe or casing being formedwith a lcontinuous bead for interlocking with the overhanging edgeflanges of the wheel-rim. These bead are liable to creep on the rim,resulting in disengagement of the shoe or vent this, stay-bolts or lugsare employed to clamp the shoe against the rimfflanges, the heads ofsuch stay-bolts conforming to the opposite inner faces of the sides ofthe shoe when the beads are in engagement with the rim-flanges. Thesebolts, While advantageous, not to say absolutely essential, inconnection With the wheeletires as heretofore constructed, arefrequently the cause of serious diflicult since if they be not properlymanipulated the positioning or removal of the casing may not beaccomplished Without injury to either the casing or the inner tube, and,furthermore, the latter is frequently pinched by .the heads of thebolts, unless great care is exercised such pinching resulting in apuncture. Then, too, no little attention -has to be paid to these boltsin pol sitioning and removing the tires. It has been sought in someinstances to avoid the danger of pinching the tube by the heads of thestay-bolts by providing the inner beaded edge of the casing with a flapbut this has been found troublesome and necessitates the completedeiiating of the tube before it is placed in the casing, as well as thecoincidenceof a hole in such flap with the hole in the rim for thepassage of the air-valve of the inner tube.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a tire which may besecured to the wheel-rim Without the continuous bead formations, onewhich will render the use of stay-bolts unnecessary, which will avoidall danger of pinching the inner tube, and one casing. To pre- Viewshowing the which will be of substantially uniform thickA ness at everypoint save its extreme edges which-are somewhat beveled, so thatthenecessity of thickening or building up the casing at the meeting edgesthereof is rendered unnecessary. This I accomplish by forming the casingof a strong pliable leather of uni orm thickness, having overlappingends or edges, with raised hooks projecting therefrom designed to enterrecesses in the. rim of the wheel and engage the edge flanges thereof,so that upon inflating the inner tube the casing will be securely heldto the wheelrim Without the aid of stay-bolts, since the engaging hooksare prevented from creeping on the Wheel-rim by engagement with thewalls of the recesses inthe flanges thereof. One set of hooks is placedfelther fromone edge of the casing than is the other set of hooks fromthe other edge, so that the overlapping of the former will prevent theinner tube from being pinched. Then, too, that portion of which connectsthe inner and outer portions thereof has direct contact with the edgesAof the wheel-rim, thereby rendering engagement between the casingandthe Wheel-rim unnecessary.

The invention will be hereinafter fully set forth, and particularlypointed out the claims.

In the .accompanying drawings, Figure, 1'

is a view 1n perspective of a sectionof a tire and wheel-rim, showing myIIlPIOYcment.

Fig. 2 is a face view of a segment of thewheelrim. Fig. 3 is an enlargedtransverse section through the casing, the rim, and two of the engaginghooks. Fig. 4 is va fragmentary interlocking ,0f One ofthe hooks withthe Wheel-rim. Fig. 5 is a detail,

Referring to the drawings, l designates the wheel-rim, and 2 2 theiianged edges thereof, which are bent back over the rim a somewhatgreater distance than is customary the clencher type. In these ilangesare formed opposite spaced-apart recesses 3,11av4l ring parallel endwalls, each I'eCess ,being of. approximately elongated U shape,-altlviofiigh it may be differently formed, if desired.

4 designates the shoe or casing, Preferably leek@ '.Of a Special kind'Qfleethel" previously subjected to treatment whichren ders it asWaterproof as rubber and yet which IOO harder usage.

secured portion is `with the rim-flanges.

possesses greater tenacity and will endure To this shoe or casing nearthe outer edge is secured a series of metallic hooks 5, which arepreferably stamped up from a single piece of metal having prongs v6,which are passed through the shoe, the engaging ends of such hooks beingbent outwardly away from the face of the shoe, so as to accommodate theflanged edge of the wheel-rim with which the hooks are designed tointerlock, such hooks entering the recesses 3. That portion of each hookconnecting the outwardly-bent portion with the inner designed to engagewith the edge of the wheel-rim, and thereby arrest the outward movementsof the casing under the iniiation of the inner tube and prevent anyundue strain on the shoe proper, as would occur if the latter engageddirectly In other words, the inner and outer portions of each hook areon different planes, with the result that when the outer portions areplaced beneath the rim-flanges the intermediate connecting portions willengage with the eXtreme edges of such flanges, and thus avoid having todepend upon an engagement between the shoe itself and the wheel-rim forthe locking of the former to the latter. A corresponding series of hooks5 is secured to the inner portion of the shoe, but some distance fromthe edge thereof, so as to form a flap 7, which w1ll overlap or beoverlapped by the other or outer edge of the shoe. (See Fig. 5.) Thesehooks are intended to engage the iianged edge at the inner side of therim, being also placed in engagement with the recesses the same as thehooks adjacent the outer edge of the shoe. The shoe or casing is ofuniform thickness throughout its length, with the exception that itseXtreme edges are slightly beveled, so that the iiap 7 will fit snuglyover the other beveled edge of the casing.

The inner tube 8 may be of any preferred type.

The use of the metallic hooks is rendered possible by the making of theshoe or casin of leather, whereas if it were of rubber or rubber andfabric such hooks could not be employed,

the rubber or rubber composition not being sufficiently firm to retainthe hook-points. The use of these hooks and the formation of recesses inthe flanged edges of the wheel-rim results in a great saving of laborand time in removing the tire. After allowing the air to escape from theinner tube the shoe or casing immediately becomes pliable, being softand not hard and stiff, as 1s the rubber tire. Thereupon the outerseries of hooks may be pressed inwardly until they are free of therecesses of the outer flanged edge. The use of levers for removing theshoe or casing is not necessary. Furthermore, the shoe may be removedand replaced without danger of pinching the inner tube.

The advantages of my invention will be at once apparent to those skilledin the art.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination with a wheel-rim havingopposite edge fianges, of a tire-casing of substantially u 'formthickness and having two series of hooks secured thereto at or near itsedges, each of said hooks having an inner secured portion and an outerflange-engaging portion, which latter is spaced away from the casing soas to accommodate and interlock with the rim-anges, the connectingportions between said inner and outer portions of the hooks beingdesigned to contact with the edges of the rim as the casing is expanded.

2. The combination with a wheel-rim having opposite edge flanges, of atire-casing having two series of hooks secured thereto near the edgesthereof, one series bein located a greater distance from one edge of thecasing than the other series is in respect to the other edge, saidformer edge constituting a fiap, and .all of said hooks being spacedaway from the casing so as to accommodate and interlock with said edgeflanges, and means for preventing the casing from creeping on the rim.

3. The combination with a wheel-rim having opposite fianges formed withedge recesses, of a tire-casing having two series of hooks securedthereto near the edges thereof, one series being located a greaterdistance from one edge of the casing than the other series is in respectto the other edge, said for'- mer edge constituting a iiap, and all ofsaid hooks being spaced away from the casing and of width substantiallyequal to that of said recesses, the interlocking of the hooks with therecessed edges of the wheel-rim preventing the casing from creeping onthe latter.

4. The combination with a wheel-rim .having opposite iianges formed withspacedapart edge recesses, of a casing of substantially uniformthickness, from edge to edge, and two series of hooks secured to thecasing near its edges, greater distance from one edge of the casing thanthe other series is in respect to the other edge, said former edgeconstituting a flap, said hooks being designed to enter said recesses ofthe rim-flanges, the interlocking of the hooks with the latterpreventing the casin from creeping on the rim.

n testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES R. TWITCHELL.

Witnesses:

E. A. MILLER, A. NoRRIs.

IOO

IIO

one series being located a

